Beyond MLK: Let's celebrate some of America's unsung heroes this Black History Month

Kyndell Harkness / Associated Press

"Eleven years before [Rosa] Parks refused to surrender her seat to a white man on an Alabama bus, Irene Morgan did the same thing on a Greyhound bus in Virginia. But Morgan's response was far from soft-spoken," writes DeRamus. "She first refused to let the young, baby-carrying woman sitting next to her give up her seat. Morgan then ripped up her arrest warrant and threw it out a window. The high-heels-wearing Morgan also kicked a sheriff's deputy in what she called 'a very bad place.' When another deputy tried to touch her, she tore his shirt." Above: The civil rights pioneer in 2000.

"Eleven years before [Rosa] Parks refused to surrender her seat to a white man on an Alabama bus, Irene Morgan did the same thing on a Greyhound bus in Virginia. But Morgan's response was far from soft-spoken," writes DeRamus. "She first refused to let the young, baby-carrying woman sitting next to her give up her seat. Morgan then ripped up her arrest warrant and threw it out a window. The high-heels-wearing Morgan also kicked a sheriff's deputy in what she called 'a very bad place.' When another deputy tried to touch her, she tore his shirt." Above: The civil rights pioneer in 2000. (Kyndell Harkness / Associated Press)

"NAACP lawyers appealed Irene Morgan's 1944 arrest and fine all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That resulted in a 1946 decision ending segregation on interstate buses," writes DeRamus. "In the South, though, some Greyhound drivers ignored the ruling. As a result, young white and black activists began testing the decision by riding together on interstate buses. Often arrested and sometimes beaten, they became known as Freedom Riders. One rider was Bayard Rustin, who would later organize the unforgettable 1963 March on Washington."

"NAACP lawyers appealed Irene Morgan's 1944 arrest and fine all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That resulted in a 1946 decision ending segregation on interstate buses," writes DeRamus. "In the South, though, some Greyhound drivers ignored the ruling. As a result, young white and black activists began testing the decision by riding together on interstate buses. Often arrested and sometimes beaten, they became known as Freedom Riders. One rider was Bayard Rustin, who would later organize the unforgettable 1963 March on Washington." (Dugald Stermer / For The Times)

Black History Month gives us the opportunity to celebrate heroes who’ve enriched America, among them Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver. But what about the many other African Americans deserving of recognition? Betty DeRamus shines a spotlight on a few such men and women in our Op-Ed pages, writing: “Black History month shouldn’t be an annual oldies roundup. It’s too rich, too varied and too surprising for that. It’s the many-layered saga of people who took what sometimes seemed like very little and turned it into more than enough -- claiming their slice of an often elusive dream.” Here’s a look at some of the people DeRamus highlights. READ MORE: Beyond the Black History Month hit parade